Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Monsanto would have you believe that their seeds cause no risk to modern
agriculture, that they are simply trying to provide the best products to feed
the world. But, both in the lab and in the fields, we’ve seen this to be far
from true. Worse, GMOs are contaminating conventional fields, and leaving some
farmers with no choice as to what they grow. This has led to numerous farmers
joining forces, filing lawsuits against Monsanto to protect themselves.

Farmers are trying to protect themselves from
contamination and lawsuits from patented GMO seeds blowing into their fields.
Credit: Takkk via Wiki

Recently, the Public Patent Foundation filed a brief with the high court of
the land in an effort to protect these farmers. The case, Organic Seed Growers
and Trade Association (OSGATA) vs. Monsanto, was
thrown off track earlier this year by an Appellate Court ruling in favor of
the seed giant. Now, organic and conventional family farmers are hoping the
Supreme Court will grant them the right to protect their crops and their
livelihood from contamination and legal action by Monsanto.

The OSGATA is not only concerned about what might happen to their crops if
they are contaminated with GM pollen from neighboring Monsanto fields, but
whether the corporation will sue them for patent infringement. The company says
it won’t. But, they’ve done it before.

“As a seed grower, who has spent the past 37 years of my life protecting and
maintaining the integrity of my seed stock to provide clean, wholesome food to
my customers, I find it unconscionable that Monsanto can contaminate mine or my
neighbors’ crops and not only get away with it, but potentially sue us for
patent infringement,” said Jim Gerritsen, an organic seed farmer and President
of lead Plaintiff OSGATA, according to GMWatch.org.
“The appeals court ruling fails to protect my family and our farm and has only
complicated matters.”

Currently, pollen from genetically modified plants is contaminating
conventional fields, leaving those farmers who wish to keep GMOs out with
considerable costs as they test their crops and seeds to ensure there is no
transgenic contamination. What’s worse, the USDA
considers GMO contamination ‘normal’.

Earlier this year, a US Appeals Court ruled plaintiffs
are unable to bring suit against Monsanto in order to protect themselves from
Monsanto’s contamination. The Court said, “Monsanto has made binding assurances
that it will not take legal action against growers whose crops might
inadvertently contain traces of Monsanto biotech genes.” They made this
determination from an anonymous statement on the Monsanto website.

The peculiar ruling leaves organic and conventional farmers fighting a
spreading fire with a squirt bottle. If they have no rights to sue Monsanto to
protect their farms, they will see their fields contaminated.

The Supreme Court should decide whether or not to hear the case in coming
months. NaturalSociety will keep you informed.